All posts tagged Euro Crisis

The euro has risen sharply since the Bank of Japan’s announcement of a vast new program of quantitative easing last week.

Adding two-and-a-half cents against the dollar, it’s been the best performing major currency since, in fact. Intuitively, there must be some connection between its rise and Tokyo’s all-out efforts to slay deflation, but the nature of the transmission channel between the two is hard to pin down.

The euro’s performance against the yen has just taken on a new significance as the central banks backing the two currencies pursue wildly different courses of action.

While the Bank of Japan has decided to tackle nearly 20 years of Japanese deflation with a revolutionary policy of doubling the country’s monetary base, the European Central Bank has decided to adopt a wait-and-see attitude despite continuing evidence that most, if not all, the countries in the euro zone are heading for recession.

About Japan Real Time

Japan Real Time is a newsy, concise guide to what works, what doesn’t and why in the one-time poster child for Asian development, as it struggles to keep pace with faster-growing neighbors while competing with Europe for Michelin-rated restaurants. Drawing on the expertise of The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires, the site provides an inside track on business, politics and lifestyle in Japan as it comes to terms with being overtaken by China as the world’s second-biggest economy. You can contact the editors at japanrealtime@wsj.com